


Cats and Dogs

by Tht0neGal666



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Humor, M/M, Nonbinary Character, Tenzo is what you may call...An Artist, ambiguous timeline, dogs vs cats, nonbinary tenzo, ooc probably, or at the very least Tenzo uses they/them pronouns, tenzo is still Kinoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 22:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18821617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tht0neGal666/pseuds/Tht0neGal666
Summary: He wondered how long they'd been doing this, how long it had taken him to notice in between his dozens of ANBU death-squad missions. He couldn't clearly recall the last time he looked in a mirror. For how long had he missed the (admittedly cute) doodles?





	Cats and Dogs

**Author's Note:**

> probably my only contribution to this week, but I had to do *something* for it, ya know? Anyway, enjoy this lowkey OOC ambiguous timeline slight crack fic

He couldn't say when they started. Honestly, he never paid all that much attention to his arms. Maybe, if his soulmate was less...enthusiastic then he never would have noticed. 

Alas, the universe is not so kind as to simply let him give up on any hope for some sort of meaningful bond. No, instead it decides to throw him a bone. Too late, he tried to convince himself, squash that spark of hope that had lit with the sight of the intricate but uniform roots being sketched up and down his right arm. Part of him scrambled to force him to shove it out of mind, resign himself to long sleeves and getting dressed with no mirrors, but another part couldn't look away as flowers were added to the pattern. 

He wondered how long they'd been doing this, how long it had taken him to notice in between his dozens of ANBU death-squad missions. He couldn't clearly recall the last time he looked in a mirror. For how long had he missed the (admittedly cute) doodles?

Finally, with much effort, he ripped his eye away from his arm, forcing himself to move forward. He had a mission, and could not afford to be distracted. His hope was bottled up and shoved even deeper then most other emotions, too dangerous to be allowed to resurface. He shook his head, slipped on his ANBU mask, and abandoned all thoughts of roots and flowers and soulmates.

He had a mission.

\--  
They probably weren't supposed to know about Soulmates. It wasn't information Danzo had given them, so they probably weren't supposed to know. The thought that thy knew anyway filled them with a cocktail of shame and giddiness, But it's not like they could unlearn it. 

They had been on a mission, told to keep a perimeter and take guard position as their ROOT partner went to interrogate whoever Danzo sent them out to. Kinoe knew better then to question it. They leaned against a book stand, picked up a random book to look more at place, and started to actually read it when they had been waiting for hours. Patience was something they was still working on.

'Soulmates For Dummies!" The title proclaimed, catching Kinoe's interest, and it was all down hill from there. They tried not to appear distracted when their partner finished and they went back to ROOT HQ, and probably did well enough because no one questioned them, but they didn't sleep at all that night.

Soulmates. Almost everyone had one. It is someone who's soul matched your own, often with a matching or mirroring chakra signature to your own. The skin served as a canvas that connected two people, though words could not be shared through it for reasons unknown. It is said that, if done right, knowing, dating, or even just being around your soulmate would make you feel more complete. It was everything Kinoe secretly wanted but knew better then to wish for, because it would interfere with Danzo's plans. Nothing, especially not Kinoe's personal interest, was worth compromising that.

Still, they couldn't help drawing on their arm. They doodled lines and smiles and cute things, but never got a reply form their soulmate. They almost gave up. It was possible that they didn't have a soulmate, or their soulmate was dead. It was possible that they did something to offend their soulmate and now their soulmate hated them; they didn't know enough about the sensibilities of others, mainly tried to mimic behavior. Maybe there was some unspoken Soulmate-drawing etiquette they were breaking, and now their soulmate hated them?

The thought made them feel a little hollow, and they couldn't tell if it was worse to think the other was dead, didn't exist, or just hated them. In the end they kept drawing, clinging to a desperate hope that they'd get a response. It was all they really had. They illustrated things they liked. Mostly plant life in a satisfyingly ordered fashion that plant life so rarely inhibited. 

Sometimes, though, they still drew cute things they saw, things that they hoped would make their soulmate smile or forgive them or respond. Things like that cute animal with claws and eyes that seemed to glow, fur sleek and tail in the air, white whiskers contrasting it's brown face. Things like-

\--  
"Cat." Kakashi said, deadpanned, in his dark apartment. His pack, huddled around and atop him, all snapped to attention at the word. Kakashi was staring at his arm with what looked like disinterest to most, but his pack could see the anger clearly in the slightest quirk of his eyebrow. "They drew a Cat. On my hand." He sighed, going for exasperated but ending up closer to fond.

Today, by some miracle, he was having one of his very rare almost-good days. He had eaten all three meals, taken a shower, brushed his teeth, even got nearly six hours of sleep last night. He was more then ready for a wonderful night in with the pack, watching his mesmerizing arm illustrate itself and snuggling up with the only constant good in his life.

Tonight was such an almost-good day, in fact, that he had even considered, for maybe the third time in however long it had been since he noticed (he was pretty bad at keeping track of time these days), responding to the doodles with one of his own. He had been about to talk himself out of the thought again, when he finally recognized what his soulmate was drawing. A cat. On his hand. For however long it took to wash off; he didn't know, he had never tried before. 

Bull growled, and Kakashi nodded. This simply could not stand. It was not something Kakashi could just leave be. It demanded action, more then anything else ever had.

Kakashi mumbled an order, an ink-soaked brush was placed in his waiting hand, and Kakashi started on the glorious portrait of a dog that looked almost exactly like a stick-figure Bull eating the realistic rendition of the disgusting feline.

He could feel Pakkun laughing at him, but Bull huffed in approval, so Pakkun could shove his critisism-

'Oh.' Kakashi realized with a start, watching his soulmate go crazy, using his shitty dog as an outline and improving the picture, 'Oh shit. I actually just. Did That.' He groaned, rubbing a hand to his face, smudging the ink.

Pakkun did not stop laughing until Bull tackled him, because Bull was actually loyal to Kakashi. Unlike, say, Shiba, who had stolen the ink well and was now dabbing pawprints onto Kakashi's skin, or Bisuke, who had grabbed his brush brush with his mouths when Kakashi wasn't looking and was now scribbling up and down his arm like a toddler left with nothing but blank walls and markers.

After thinking on it, he really couldn't find the energy to freak out, or even unsummon his pack so they'd stop. Instead he decided it was a problem for later (or maybe never) as he laid his head on Akino, who had slept through the entire debacle, and fell asleep, ignoring the slight chill of ink as his mischievous and malicious pack took advantage of his exhaustion. Definitely a problem for later.


End file.
